


Family

by oudkee



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Gen, Homesickness, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 19:31:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18350231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oudkee/pseuds/oudkee
Summary: Short story written for the cancelled Soccer Yaroze zine.





	Family

Gran always spent each and every night alone atop the Aliea mother ship - gazing up at the stars that reminded him of the peaceful childhood nights on his home planet. On this particular night, his heart was heavy - filled with loneliness and yearning to see his family once again. He had a human family that took care of him for a time, even opening up their home to the other children of Aliea, but things weren't the same... nor would they ever go back to the way they were. He sighed, lost in his thoughts. All he yearned for was to escape this planet and return home... a feeling that he, as the Aliean's de facto leader, couldn't bring himself to convey to anyone else.

"Hey, Gran..." An icy voice pulled him out of his daydream. He turned to see Gazel and Burn standing behind him.  
"If this is about you two not being chosen for Genesis, forget about it. I'm not in the mood to discuss it."  
Gazel crinkled his nose at Gran's remark. "No, that's not it. We're worried about you... Desarm and Reize are concerned as well."  
"Yeah, you've been acting really distant and weird lately. Ulvida told us we'd find you up here."

Gran turned his attention back to the stars above, watching as they twinkled, as if to coerce him into opening up about his feelings. "Whenever I look at the Earth's moon, I'm reminded of the twin moons on Aliea. Their pale violet colour was always so comforting to me..." he spoke in a hushed tone, almost as if not to startle the shimmering lights so distant above. "I miss the comfort of my family. All I want is for this to be over, so that we can finally go home. I know that's no way for the leader to be speaking, but I can't take it anymore."

Gazel sat next to the green-eyed boy, turning his gaze towards the sky. "We still have a lot of work to do. It's a bit immature to be daydreaming about the past all of the time..." he trailed off, drawing his knees to his chest. "...however, I can't say I haven't given my family and friends a second thought. Even _I_ miss them."

"Heh... you guys are both wusses." Burn muttered.  
"Quiet, Burn. Don't pretend that everyone on Prominence and Diamond Dust don't hear you crying for your mommy in your sleep."  
"H-hey! That's personal!!"

Gran chuckled a bit to himself, always enjoying seeing them bicker. He closed his eyes and laid down upon the roof of the mother ship, feeling the cool autumn breeze caress his hair. In the silence between the three alien boys, he let his mind wander - pondering the things he missed about his planet and how they compared to Earth. He missed his family and friends, and the many Aliea customs and holidays, but Earth was kind of fun, as well. Everything shone so brightly in the light of this solar system's tiny sun, and the plants and creatures were such curious things! Not to mention, the interesting people of this planet...

He snapped out of his thoughts, hearing more footsteps approaching. He opened his eyes and tilted his head back, only to see Desarm, Ulvida, and Reize approaching.  
"He who seeks, shall find..." Reize spoke, always with that distant edge to his voice. "Ulvida said you were up here and that she wished to check on you. The three of us were discussing how we were worried about you."

"I'm _fine_ , really guys..." Gran sighed as he sat back upright, a sad smile crossing his face. "Just... very homesick."

Ulvida sat on the other side of him, placing her warm hand atop his cold, pale one. "It's okay to come to us, we're your family too. You may be our leader, but you're also like a brother to all five of us."

"I miss a lot of things about Aliea, too... but I have to say, it's been a long time since something has interested me as much as playing soccer against those Raimon kids." Desarm said, patting Gran's back with his strong, reassuring hand.

Such solacing words from his friends warmed Gran's heart, and he could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes. How foolish he was to think he had to shoulder his sadness alone... his family was right there with him, as Ulvida had said. Gran reached his free hand towards the sky, motioning as if trying to grab a handful of stars. "After this... if we truly have to make our home here in the long run... I suppose I should be focusing on what I love about this planet and its inhabitants. Humans are always willing to take on whatever challenge stands in their way, it continually inspires me to see such bright passion burning in their eyes. I wish I could be more like that."

Reize chimed in. "I've always been fascinated by their proverbs and way of thinking. It's interesting how many kinds of cultures developed on a planet that has had such little input from other planets."

"Even if we can never go back to Aliea after this... I can't say I really mind," Desarm added. "Reize told me once about how our people are born from the stars. If that's true, I think it's fitting that we're back out among them, although our own distant planet was a safe haven in our solar system."

A pang of sadness crossed through Gran at Desarm's words. "Back among the stars, huh... considering we've had no contact with our planet since the Genesis Project started, our families probably think we're-"

"Don't talk like that, Gran. They're hoping with all of their hearts that we're okay - and we are. We're okay because we all have each other." Ulvida's grip tightened on his hand, as she glanced around at the other four captains, studying each of them for a second before speaking again. "Even if... we're defeated by the humans, we'll still always have each other. That is what's most important."

"Ulvida's right. We may have been strangers until we were chosen for the Genesis Project, but we've worked together so long, our bonds are unbreakable now." Gazel joined in, his usual cold tone showing a hint of legitimate friendliness towards his leader.

Burn smirked, now seeming fired up about the situation. "Yeah! If only _that man_ would permit the six of us in particular joining forces, I'm sure we'd be unstoppable!"

Gran let go of Ulvida's hand as he moved to wipe the few small tears that overflowed from his crystal-green eyes, as he looked at his friends surrounding him, a gentle smile of gratitude crossing his lips. "You guys... you really are the best friends I ever could have asked for. Thank you for coming up here to find me."

"Of course," Ulvida said, smiling up at him, tears now pooling in her eyes as well. "We couldn't have asked for a better person to be our leader. Thank _you_."

The six Alieans sat and talked atop the mother ship until dawn, discussing all the little things each one loved about the planet Earth. One by one they drifted off to sleep under the cool, clear sky... and as Gran fell asleep, he thought of nothing but how much he loved his family here on Earth most of all.


End file.
